What is a .kmz file and how do you make one? A .kmz file, when opened, launches Google Earth and the files needed to view specific portions of the globe, map overlays, and other information. There are several ways to create a .kmz file to share with others for specific content to be learned. Thematic Mapping Engine provides you with a very simple way to create Google Earth .kmz files. This tool uses data from the United Nations to create maps of all types of development and environmental data. Follow the instructions in the yellow box along the right side of this tool. Select a statistical indicator category from the dropdown (for example, Life expectancy or population). Then, select a year or range of years, and the manner in which they would like the data displayed in Google Earth. Preview and download the .kmz file. Share this file on your blog, wiki, or web page. Click on and then download the file. Once the file is opened, Google Earth then opens and the data is seen within Google Earth. Note: Google Earth must be installed on student computers. Check with your technology department about the availability of Google Earth in your schools. See more information about Google Earth, reviewed here.

In the Classroom

Use this tool with Google Earth to discuss population changes, incidence of various diseases, or look at environmental data such as carbon dioxide emissions. Use this tool when discussing various countries and populations throughout the world, looking at the various factors that affect countries. Use this information to question the history and current state of various populations. Create more than one .kmz file to place on your class website. Provide time for student groups to look at one of the files and draw conclusions or report on their findings. Use class time to look at the information from all groups to obtain a snapshot of various regions, looking at populations, diseases, and more. For younger grades, use an interactive whiteboard or projector to show these files in Google Earth and compare what students know about the United States or other areas in unfamiliar countries. This tool would be perfect for gifted students to use to extend learning in a Science or History/World Cultures class to better understand the world around them.

Create a simple and beautiful web page that acts like an RSS reader for all of your social networking sites! Your web page will open to a large beautiful background. This FREE (and ad free) account includes seven layouts and brings in your content from five other services (Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, Posterous, Netflix, Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Etsy, Foursquare, and others). Click "Start Your Website" to begin. Use the Edit panel along the right to begin adding information About you and adding Content from social media sources. Change aspects of the Design including layouts, backgrounds, colors, and more. Under Mobile, set the aspects of design that will be used for your page to show on mobile devices. To save your design choices, create an account and password!This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use social media in the classroom? Create a class page and connect the class or school social media accounts to display everything in one place! Create a group of advanced learners to set the design choices for the site. Then, connect the social media sites and create the account. Students can view all the information created for and by the class.

Looking for views of orbiting satellites with actual data about the Earth? Find it here with the Eyes on the Earth tool. Note: This tool requires a one-time download. After installing, launch from the web page (the install button turns into a start button). Be sure to view in full-screen mode for the best effect. Change your perspective of the Earth by changing the tilt (hold down the mouse and rotate). Zoom in and out with the tool along the right (much like the tool in Google Earth or Maps). Choose from among the tools along the top. As you click on a tool, read information in the window to the left. Be sure to click Turn Audio On to hear the narrative. Use the additional links there for more information. Visible Earth shows the movement of two satellites and the images from both. Choose the speed of the motion of the satellites with the slider along the bottom. Other tools include Temperature, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Sea Level, Antarctic Zone, and Water and Ice. Click on the last two tools to view the actual datasets and missions. Some of the tools have relief maps, showing a 3D representation of the data. Click Show relief to really capture student attention. The tools in the lower right corner control the brightness of the image and full or partial screen.

In the Classroom

Be sure to share this tool using an interactive whiteboard or projector in the classroom. Provide a link to this tool on your website or bookmark on a class computer. Use this tool to introduce students to questioning and the scientific method. Why collect data on the Earth? Show a tool to the whole class or provide time for groups of students to view the visuals and develop questions and make observations. Challenge students to find answers to some of their questions. Help students figure out what they need to know to answer the questions. For a unit on the environment, begin the unit showing a few of the tools, namely the carbon dioxide and temperature tool. Compare two different tools side by side to note differences in patterns. For example, are the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide patterns similar? Why or why not? Research the various gases, how they originate, and problems they cause in the atmosphere. Why is the carbon dioxide higher in some areas and not others? Research the carbon footprint of various regions and compare. Are those same areas showing the greatest or least effects of climate change? When discussing technology, view the different missions featured in this tool and the various engineering feats needed to accomplish these missions. Provide time for students to propose a "fantasy" mission for NASA. What should be measured, what would you call the mission? What kind of data would need to be collected? How do you think the Earth image data would look? Draft the proposal and create the possible image for review. Note: Students can focus on biological, chemical, or physical data for their proposal.

Beenpod is a tool to gather, share, and organize your favorite webpages. Create your own "beens" to create collections of websites, people, and ideas. Explore pages together with a single colleague or entire class as you pause, resume, and chat together. Educator accounts for teachers, parents, and administrators offer the ability to create student accounts. Organize groups of students into groups as small or large as desired. Be sure to read through the FAQ and view videos for an overview of Beenpod's offerings.

In the Classroom

Use the "surf together" feature to explore and discuss online information as a class, small group, or with a partner classroom. Use Been to create a bank of resources to use for each content unit within your subject or classroom. Share Beens with students and let them add to the ever growing lists. Use for web treasure hunts to learn or introduce any topic within your content area. Use comments to ask questions or give directions about each site. Collect links to informational texts for students to read "closely" a la CCSS. Have students create Beens as a place to store links for a project. Share Been as a tool older students may want to use while collaborating on a project from a distance. They can browse online TOGETHER at the same time to decide which sources they want to use for a project, for example.

Storybuilder is an online application to plan storyboards for plays, movies, and videos. Create cards to lay out on a virtual corkboard to arrange the order of your story. Add notes, images, and tags to organize and improve your story. Save and access your Storybuilder from any computer, tablet, or smart phone through your Amazon Studios account. Add contributors to any project who can view your work and add stickies with notes. Per the site's terms of use, it is not for use by children. You must be 18 to use the site.

In the Classroom

Demonstrate how to create a storyboard using Storybuilder on your interactive whiteboard or projector. As you and your students create a class story, show how to add and edit cards on your corkboard. Brainstorm together to create a storyboard for a video story as a final plan of a story, report, or poem. This is a highly engaging way to teach your students about story elements, dialogue, character development, etc. Create a storyboard of a book or short story recently finished in class as a review of the characters and story plot. Create storyboards as part of a World Languages class, and label images, or tell a story in the language they are learning. Work together to complete biographies of famous people. Tell the story of different famous events in history or explain their understanding of cell division using this easy program that produces entertaining results. Autistic or emotional support teachers can create storyboards demonstrating interpersonal behavior skills. Change your storyboard to Print view to view your cards in an easy to print and read format.

WikiWand is a browser add-on to enhance the look and use of Wikipedia. Follow links to add the extension to Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. Once installed, WikiWand adds an easy to use table of contents to the side of the screen, easier to read typography and a handy preview-on-hover feature. Personalize your screen by changing fonts and size of fonts.

In the Classroom

Install WikiWand on classroom computers to improve student viewing of Wikipedia. Share on your interactive whiteboard to demonstrate and view features for student use. If you do recommend Wikipedia as a source for research, be sure to have the discussion about its unknown authorship and usefulness as a general information tool but not as a "scholarly" resource. As a challenge to your better writers, consider asking them to write entries that you can submit to this encyclopedia on classroom topics in simpler English. They will have to analyze their own language and writing style with far greater scrutiny than ever before. Or have the class create a two version wiki glossary of your own on curriculum topics in any discipline, using this as a model for the "easy reading" side.

Create beautiful photo stories with Exposure. Create an account to begin, and then drag and drop photos to begin a narrative. Add headers and body text above and between photos to tell your story. Follow prompts to add photo groups, full-width pictures, or embed Vimeo or YouTube videos into your narrative. Publish and share your story using the URL or with social networking links; embed into any website or blog using the provided embed code. Free accounts allow users to create up to three Exposure narratives.

In the Classroom

Have students create an Exposure account to share poetry, writing projects, or as a student portfolio. Challenge groups of students to create photo stories featuring information about landforms, states, or demonstrating steps of a science experiment. Please remember, it is always best to use caution with image searching. Provide students with clear guidelines and expectations. Use Exposure to share field trips and class activities with parents.

Classmill allows you to create your own online classes by uploading videos, links, files, and images. Create your account to start your own class or explore classes already online. When creating a class choose from privacy options such as invite only for attendees. Add content within modules for each class using tabs to upload or embed information. Once your content is complete, use the "Ready" toggle switch to make it accessible to users. Use the "Invite" button to invite users using their email address.

In the Classroom

Create your course and offer it to your students for greater interaction and learning through community building. Find great ideas from other existing courses. Teachers of gifted can use courses to challenge students in their areas of interest. You can also have gifted students create or collaborate on a student-made "course." Explore the topics yourself for some new, engaging topics to round out your own expertise. Allow students to enroll in a course that would fit into their career goals as an exploratory opportunity in that field.

Tozzl is a free collaboration tool and digital pinboard. Create your tozzl to add items such as YouTube videos, a Twitter wall, files, pictures, and more. Click on "Create a new tozzl" to begin and follow the prompts. Once your tozzl is created, use links to edit and add information, add new members, and share. Best of all, tozzl doesn't require registration!

In the Classroom

Use tozzl to create public or private, password-protected message boards. Use as a backchannel tool for discussions during lessons. Share with students to create their own message boards when working on group projects. Use tozzl as a message board for each of your classes. Include class notes, handouts, links to videos, and more.

MySkillBoard is an online tool for managing and tracking student data aligned to Common Core or individual standards. Create student groups and add your activities to match standards. Quickly input each score and view data through several different visualization options. This site is optimized for use on any device allowing you to input and track student performance at any time.

In the Classroom

MySkillBoard requires a bit of a learning curve due to a lack of tutorials on using the program. However, it may be useful for differentiating student instruction in any classroom. Add each class or group of students to document. Follow learning goals and mastery of standards. Use mySkillBoard together with other teachers to monitor and document student progress in all learning areas.

Finally! A tool to create a professional looking email newsletter in minutes! Goodbits has simplified the task of designing a newsletter by having sections and changing the layout easily. You can also crop images where necessary. Just find and collect your content, plug it into Goodbits, and they will make it beautiful. You can read the newsletter on most browsers and mobile devices. You can add links via mobile devices; however, they recommend creating and sending newsletters on a computer. Goodbits uses Mail Chimp, reviewed here, but plans on using other email programs in the future. The sign up is quick, just your name and email, and you are set to go.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Consider using Goodbits to create a daily newsletter about what students learned in class, and then present it as a recap at the beginning of the next day. Be sure to add images and charts where possible for visual students. Eventually, students could do this on their own at the end of the class. A newsletter would build an excellent learning journal and could be used to study for a test, or as a source for writing a final essay. Writing for digital publication is an important element of Common Core writing. In science and math classes, students can design a newsletter about a famous scientist or mathematician. In science class, students can develop a newsletter to explain to a younger student about cells, life cycles, or any science topic. Do an author study with the end project being a newsletter. For literature circle end projects have the group create a newsletter about the plot and characters. Create digital magazines for any subject or topic: explain an event in history, demonstrate different types of animals or habitats. With the Goodbits newsletter tool, it will almost seem effortless to send home a weekly or monthly newsletter to parents with ongoing news of class activities, announcements, schedules, and more.

PhotoCat is a free online photo editing service. Edit and retouch images easily. Make photo collages in just a few simple steps. Upload any image from your computer. If the image is too large PhotoCat will ask to reduce it automatically. Choose from the many options such as special effects, retouching tools, frames, text, and more. Once completed save your image to your computer or share using social networking links.

In the Classroom

Use this tool anytime that photos need to be edited for use on class blogs, wikis, or in presentation tools (reviewed here). In primary grades, this tool could be useful for teachers to use to edit pictures from a field trip, science experiments, and more. Share the editing process with your younger students using your interactive whiteboard or projector. Edit together! Encourage older students to use this site themselves on images for projects or presentations. Use this tool in photography or art classes. Use the editor to edit pictures to fit styles of pictures when doing historical reports or to set a mood. Use text options for the photos themselves to tell the stories. Have students annotate or label Creative Commons online images of cells, structures of an animal, and much more.

Clearly is a browser extension that works with Evernote reviewed here to clean up web pages for easier reading. Remove items such as advertisements, navigation bars, and other distractions with a single click. Use Clearly to clip and add items to your Evernote account for later viewing wherever you have Evernote installed. Currently Clearly works with Chrome, Firefox, and Opera browsers.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this helpful extension in any classroom setting where you use Evernote. Many students will benefit from viewing cleaner pages without so many distractions. Help your less-focused students stay with your lessons!

Make your story-telling come to life in any content area with this free tool! Story Map uses a map or pictures to tell the story. The simple editor in this tool syncs to Google Drive editor to create a storymap. The created storymap is a sequence of slides for a map location or image that includes a heading, text, and even images and embedded video. The map or image and included information appear side by side. You can click between the slides connecting one location to another (or portions of an image to another). Your story is now interactive! To use: Follow the prompts to connect your Google Drive to the tool. Choose the type of story to create, Map or Gigapixel (image). Don't worry about the map image showing on the first page. When building a map, the front page will include the portion of the World Map based on map points throughout the project (ex. USA or Europe). Add a headline and detail to the appropriate areas. Include links and change font to bold and italic if desired. Add images to any page by uploading from your computer (through Google Drive) or by entering a link to an image. Enter the URL of the Vimeo or YouTube video you wish to use. Need help? Click on the Gigapixel tab along the top for help in uploading images and videos. The Media box not only has an area for the URL, but also an area to enter a caption and credit for the image. Add additional pages by clicking "Add Slide" in the left-hand menu. Add points to your map, one per slide, by typing the building, street, city, and country. Use the zoom bar in the top left to find the location. Customize the map style, background color, and font using the Options buttons. Click Share to send through social media or to use an embed code. The embed code can be used in any site, adjusting its width for different sites. If using Gigapixel, use a large image (as the image will literally be the "map" and your points move around the image). Save your image to Google Drive and copy the URL of the image as you will need it in the first step.

In the Classroom

Be sure to stress Fair Use and Copyright with students when using online images and crediting sources. Find great resources and information on TeachersFirst. Of course, if possible use your own images. In Science, use this tool to upload a picture of a science experiment from class and retell the story of the "experiment" by connecting with each of the individual parts of the image. In a Technology class, use this tool to create a project of anything that could be considered "mappable." Some examples include a timeline tour of an event, tour routes of a favorite band, the movement of a character in a movie or novel, or various events in a War. Find various shapes in nature and buildings for a Geometry class, showing their locations in a map. This tool would be wonderful for gifted students to showcase an interest or extend learning from a concept learned in class. Use this tool to trace the history of various recipes or ingredients in a Family and Consumer Science class. Trace the history of people, religions, and events. In Science, create a tour of various animals found in specific areas of a given biome or locations of various types of rocks and their information around the world.

Stampsy is a web-based community platform for sharing stories and experiences. Construct units of content with a variety of images, text, video, and audio. Tell your own story. Use the Collect feature to save, repost, or merge images from any other user alongside your own content to spin new stories. Quickly sign up to create an account using email. You can also link through popular social networking sites.

In the Classroom

Use Stampsy to create collections of images, videos, and more for any teaching unit. Share examples of different types of geography, collections of plants or animals, examples of literature - the possibilities are endless! Have students create a Stampsy collection as an alternative to traditional types of presentations. Create a class account and have students add materials to a Stampsy for use with any unit. Share with students for use as an online portfolio for use with college applications.

The Little Memory provides an online tool for diary writing and journaling. You can download the app for any device (or use on a web browser) and start to write! Upload pictures, tag your location, and share with other friends using social media links. Change settings to allow private or public viewing of any entries. Choose the star icon to save memories as favorites. Choose "stat" to see your statistics such as number of entries, current and longest writing streaks, and photos used. Earn photo credits by sharing memories with others. Click the World Memories icon to view entries by other users; however, these are not moderated.

In the Classroom

Share this site with students to create their own private diary or journal. Use The Little Memory as a good option for students to use for prewriting and brainstorming before beginning writing projects. Create your own account and use The Little Memory as a tool for reflecting on lessons and classroom activities each day. If you have individual laptops for students, or are in a BYOD school, why not begin class with an entry each day. Have students keep a simple, yearlong journal of the highlights of their learning. Use The Little Memory as lesson "closure" writing a summary of each day's events.

This tool is the search engine for the next generation. Search with better results than traditional search engines. How is this possible? Cluuz uses the relationship between the terms, persons, or other items searched for more relevant results. Enter your search term. Click Advanced for more search options. Click the various items to include in the search under Preferences. Select whether to search using the News or the Web. Results are displayed in a list form and image thumbnails. Click on each heading to view the source. Find relevant tags below the heading of each source that have some relationship with your topic. These tags help streamline your search, finding the relationships that you are actually looking for. Be sure to notice the word clusters found along the right side of the search page. These semantic graphs are clusters created by items extracted from the web pages. Look at each semantic graph to zero in on the actual focus of your search. Use the menu across the top to learn Search Basics or How to Use Cluuz (this is a powerpoint download).

In the Classroom

When discussing 21st century skills, use Cluuz alongside other search engines to compare the results and determine whether the search engines deliver relevant results. Use this search engine when researching any person, event, or concept in your classes. Be sure to link this search engine along with the others on your web page.

JMAP offers a large collection of resources for integrating Regents exam questions into everyday curriculum. Although it is created specifically for New York Regents exam preparation, content is applicable to any math curriculum. Choose from content sorted by textbook, class, or review materials. Choices for downloading materials include PDF, DOC, and TST formats. Other materials included on the site are Regents books, worksheet generators, and Regents archives. This site is a must-see for New York teachers and worth a visit for all math teachers!

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site for use throughout the year for finding standardized testing questions to integrate into classroom lessons. Be sure to share a link to former test questions and review materials on your class web page or blog for use at home. If you teach using AMSCO or Pearson textbooks, be sure to explore this site for valuable resources to supplement your textbook materials. Use an online flashcard maker, like Flashcard Stash, reviewed here, to create study materials found on JMAP. Have students upload a photo they have taken and add voice bubbles to explain steps in solving a problem using a tool such as Superlame, reviewed here.

Create a presentation that has the familiar slides of PowerPoint with the commentary of a screencast. With this tool, you have the control. You can determine whether to see the presentation as created or browse slides and listen to only the portions that you want. Upload your content from Google Drive or a computer. Click "Present" to begin making your presentation. Be sure to approve the tool to access your device's sound and camera. Create your presentation and then share the link to the recording. Share by using Gmail, Google+, Google Drive, Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, and other social media. You can also embed the link on your blog or wiki. You may need to manage the size of the slides and images before uploading. If they are too large, you may have difficulty moving to the Present phase (this problem may be a temporary one). Find several tutorials for using Presentious by scrolling down the Support page.

In the Classroom

Looking for an easy to use tool that gives even the viewer more functionality? Encourage your students to use this tool for projects and reports. Use this tool for analysis of a lab report, a culminating project for literature circles, book reviews, discussion of various historical figures or periods, or a digital portfolio for work completed in class (not just art or music). Students could illustrate a short story they wrote, using the audio to record the story as the illustrations slide past. Use this program when you have to be away from the classroom instead of writing out all the directions for a sub. Use it for absent students to stay on top of what has been discussed, assigned, or completed in class. Consider having students explain how to solve a math problem and posting it on the class website for students to refer to at home. This tool would be useful for blended or flipped learning, giving students time to absorb information about content, leaving class time for individualized learning. This tool would be a great one for gifted students to use when reporting on research. Students will love the ability to move through portions easily.

This tool is an online Jeopardy game builder. Simply enter the information and you are ready to play! Use the "build now" button and choose a URL for your game. Enter your email address so you can edit the game later. Enter your series of questions and answers under topical headings and difficulty levels. It's that easy. Up to four teams or individuals can play at one time. Play the demo history game and choose one of the vegetable icons to get started. Clicking the check mark for correct will reveal the answer.

In the Classroom

Jeopardy games are a great way to review all types of information, in any subject, with your students. As part of the review, have small groups of students take a category and create the Jeopardy game. Have students create a Jeopardy quiz for their classmates to take after they give a presentation. Learning support teachers may want to have small groups create the review quizzes since creating the quiz is a great way to reinforce content. Share a link to any Jeopardy Rocks activity on your class website or blog for student use at home.